Havelock Europa has revealed a dip in half year revenues just weeks after announcing plans to cut around 50 jobs.

The Fife-based interior refurbishment firm cited a subdued demand in the UK retail and financial services sectors for what continues to be a difficult year for the company.

Group revenue from continuing operations was down to £28.9m from £30.5m, and the outlook for the retail and financial services sectors remains subdued, the company said in its interim results for the six months to 30 June published yesterday.

That led to a slightly wider loss of £2.4m, increased from £2.3m in 2014.

Group net debt also increased from £2.6m to £3.1m due to an £0.8m increase in finance lease obligations from the company’s investment in its enterprise resource planning system.

Earlier this month Havelock announced plans to cut its workforce by 50 (around 10 per cent) following a review of the group and the need to make annual savings of £3m.

Many of the 50 jobs to go in the reorganisation are at the Kirkcaldy base.

However, international retail sales are on target to achieve expected growth, helped by a new management team which was revealed in May.

The AIM listed company is also on track with its business reorganisation project to be completed by the end of the year, which is expected to contribute to annualised cost savings of £3m for 2016.

Havelock Europa chief executive officer David Ritchie said: “Whilst the short term trading outlook is challenging I am confident that the business reorganisation plan will enable the business to deliver sustainable profits in the future.”